27 Aug Major structural failures of Schools in Scotland due to lack of Clerk of Works
Over the last few years construction work at many Schools in Scotland has been carried out under Public Finance Initiative Schemes (PFI), where the building contractor self-certifies their own work as being to the correct standard and quality, without being subject to external monitoring or inspection. This is a model of financing public construction projects that has become common in many countries since it was first developed in UK and AUstralia. Many of these schools have suffered serious structural failures in the last few years and have needed major re-construction or repair, causing serious disruption to schools and an unexpected additional financial cost.
If an independent Clerk of Works had been engaged on all of these projects these defects would not have occurred, the additional unforeseen costs would not have arisen and there would have been no disruption or health and safety risks to staff and pupils.
Similarly, in New Zealand many projects are carried out without an independent Clerk of Works, resulting in many residential and commercial projects that were completed in the last 20 years suffering serious construction defects needing major repairs causing disruption to building owners, tenants, and building users.
The links below give a more detailed explanation of the defects of individual schools which were affected in Scotland.